Help understanding Raid/ New Build is it good?

Need to upgrade my computer which I use mostly to do office and photo-shopping work however I usually have alot of tabs open and also do some basic file conversions.

The budget is lets say roughly $500 give or take a little it doesn't really matter, so far I have put together this:

1: Cpu

http://www.microcenter.com/single...id=0388577

2: Motherboard have a choice of getting any Z77 board to get the $50 combo off but thought one of these two would probably do the job

http://www.microcenter.com/single...id=0387156
http://www.microcenter.com/single...id=0387556

3: Ram wasnt to sure but something like this maybe or should I go for a three ram kit to get tri-channel working

http://www.microcenter.com/single...id=0382101

4: Harddrive main for Operating system and programs so they run fast

http://www.microcenter.com/single...id=0385188

5: Second harddrive for storage:

No idea which drive is best with around 1tb, although can be smaller

6: Now the part I dont understand what is raid and can these two drives be setup in a raid as I keep reading its a faster way of doing things but I have always just plugged in one hd and been good

7: Do I need an addition graphics card to help with photoshop or will the built in chip be sufficient, this will not be used for gaming at all

8. Aside from whats listed above and a DVD drive will something like this do for a power supply

http://www.microcenter.com/single...id=0361421

Feel free to make changes or advice me what I can change, I am just sick of waiting on loading times

Tri-channel memory is not a feature of this platform. It wouldn't be much of a performance boost anyways.

Traditional RAID setups don't make sense with a SSD and a larger mechanical HDD. You should absolutely make use of the Smart Response [intel.com] feature of your Z77 motherboard and use a SSD as a cache for the larger HDD. This will give you pretty close to SSD speeds without having to worry about filling up the SSD or what files go on which drive. The SSD itself becomes transparent. Smart Response is only able to utilize up to 64GB for the cache, so if your SSD is larger than 64GB, then there will be left over unused space. Microcenter has 64GB Crucial M4's for $63. Smart response is essentially a hybrid RAID 0 and is very easy to set up.

You don't need much power for this system. 430W is more than enough.

Are you wanting suggestions to save money? Are you stuck on buying everything from Microcenter?

For #7 on the graphics, I can only suggest that you try using the HD4000 with Photoshop first before buying a video card. You can always add a video card later anyway.

Quote from dhc014 : Are you wanting suggestions to save money? Are you stuck on buying everything from Microcenter?

Not really stuck on buying everything from microcenter its just they are close and have very reasonable prices, I know for sure I cant beat that deal on a cpu/ mobo combo. I usually stick with asus for the mobo after previous good experiences. Really looking for advice on whats best to combine together to get the best system.

I will have to read into this smart response thing, I just always assumed placing the operating system and apps on the ssd will give the best gain then using the mechanical drive for storage.

In terms of the graphics card I thought id read somewhere that having a decent graphics card will unload some of the processing and speed things up a little when photo editing

That's a very nice build. I'd go with the ASUS motherboard just because they have really good hardware fan speed controls (though perhaps Gigabyte has caught up in this regard recently). However, the gigabyte has more USB 3.0 ports.

If you don't mind rebates, newegg [newegg.com]has the 500W version of your power supply for the same price.

This one [newegg.com] costs a fair bit more, but beat out the Corsair in this comparison. [anandtech.com] Though, it can be louder, depending upon the load.

With that SSD as your main drive, general performance won't be an issue. The m4 is very responsive and is among the most reliable SSDs out there.

The HD4000 GPU on the CPU you've chosen is listen in Photoshop CS5's "supported video card [adobe.com]" list so you will be able to take advantage of GPU acceleration. Whether a dedicated GPU would be even faster, I can't say. Like a previous poster mentioned, you can always add one later.

(Keep in mind that, just because a GPU isn't listed in the above list doesn't mean that acceleration won't work). See here [adobe.com]for more information.

Thanks for the advice so far, now trying to decide whether the 830 would be a better drive over the M4. Currently am working with an M4 and have been very happy with it although this was my first and so far only build with an SSD so i was bound to be amazed regardless

Having the same issue with psu's as I had last time where by half the reviews say DOA!!! last time ended up going for one of these:
http://www.microcenter.com/single...id=0358411
at the time it was priced at $79.99 although people said it was overkill for a basic system

With the graphics card it was just a thought to aid speed, tbh I thought the built in graphics card would be enough as long as it has an HDMI output which im sure it does

Now which drive should I be looking at for larger storage?

Last I checked, HDDs were basically a crapshoot, especially given that Seagate and WD have bought up most of their competitors. When I significantly upgrade, I always just buy two and backup my data religiously.

If you have to ask about RAID, I wouldn't worry about it.

And search SD, the M4 has been on sale for $90.

Ok just picked up one Core i5 2500K & Core i5 3570K which will be hooked up to ASUS
P8Z77-V LK Motherboards turns out ill be making two computers at the same time one with just a single ssd and the other with both an ssd + larger drive for storage

Now just need a couple more pieces: PSU/ Ram/ internal dvd drives (saw these in mc for $15.99)

In terms of ram should I buy a 4 channel kit then break it up so each computer has daul channel running 8gigs, what is the best value fastest ram I can get?

Dumping the raid idea for now lol

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6817151093

Would one of these be good enough to run these computers or do they not provide enough output? almost bought the pc power and cooling 760w units yesterday!!

Quote from davcohen : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6817151093 Would one of these be good enough to run these computers or do they not provide enough output? almost bought the pc power and cooling 760w units yesterday!!

A couple of those will provide more than enough power for your computers. You could probably opt for a lower power output to save a few dollars if you have no intention of buying a video card.

As for the RAM, just get a couple of dual channel kits. From what I see, the 4 channel kits come at a premium, even if it is just a few dollars for the cheaper ones. Just get some DDR3-1600 CL9 1.5v RAM and you should be set.

With the PSU i just wanted to make sure I get a good quality unit that will ensure it stops voltage spikes going through the system as we get the power knocked out here a couple of times a year and I know lower quality PSU's dont take well to that

Quote from davcohen : With the PSU i just wanted to make sure I get a good quality unit that will ensure it stops voltage spikes going through the system as we get the power knocked out here a couple of times a year and I know lower quality PSU's dont take well to that

I could have sworn I saw a ~400-450 Watt Seasonic for around $40-45 a few days ago... I guess I was wrong on that.

However, if you feel like trying out Antec, there is a 380 Watt Green PSU for $41 with shipping. Has a 5 egg review and editor's choice on Anandtech, according to newegg.

What would be a reasonable output for these type of systems?

I would have thought a minimum of 500w, bare in mind I will most likely never add anything onto these systems just want something that can handle random power inputs at times lol

In terms of the ram will a lower CL number with timing be beneficial or will the difference barely be noticeable